Mission Mary Lynette
by dragonelemental
Summary: Ash is fed up of doing missions for Circle Daybreak; all he wants to do is see Mary- Lynette. But now he has a mission in Oregon, Briar Creek. ' She's waiting for me... i hope' Ash had said in 'Soulmate' now we find out if it is true. chapter 9 up!
1. Default Chapter

_She tried to keep her mind off Thierry… and Maya. But it wasn't easy. That night she found herself walking restlessly through the house. She wound up in a little anteroomon the second floor that looked down on the enormous living room._

_"Can't relax?"_

_The lazy murmer came from behind her. Hannah turned to see Ash, his lanky elegant body propped against a wall. His eyes looked silver in the dimly lit room._

_"Not really," Hannah admitted. "I just wish they'd find Thierry. I've got a bad feeling about it."_

_They stood for a moment in silence. Then Ash said, "Yeah, it's hard to be without your soulmate. Once you've found them I mean."_

_Hannah looked at him intrigued. The way he said that… She spoke hesitantly. "This morning Thea said you were all here because you had human soulmates."_

_He looked across the room at French doors that led to a balcony, "Yes?"_

_"And- well…" Maybe she's dead, Hannah thought suddenly. Maybe I shouldn't ask._

_"And you want to know where mine is," Ash said._

_"I didn't mean to pry."_

_"No. It's okay." Ash looked out at the darkness beyond the French doors again. "She's waiting- I hope. I've got some things to put right before I see her."_

_"You're like her you know," he added abruptly, "Like my- like Mary- Lynette."_

Thierry. Lucky asshole. He'd been through his trials with… for his soulmate. He'd been able to keep his soulmate, to be with her. Hannah was so much like Mary- Lynette, Thierry had lived without Hannah for hundreds of years, knowing of her existence, at least Theirry understood how he felt. Ash gave a grumble as her wove through the circle daybreakers in the entrance hall of Thierry's Las Vegas mansion. _Thierry's_ Las Vegas mansion not _Ash's_ Las Vegas mansion. Lucky asshole. Now that he was a part of circle daybreak he could kiss goodbye any fortunes provided from his father. Hunter Redfern. Ash allowed himself an inward chuckle: apparently Hunter had blown a fuse at hearing the Ash's latest activities. Oh, how he wished he has seen that. But Thierry. Thierry with his Las Vegas mansion, his leadership of circle daybreak- of Ash himself- and his Old Soul soulmate. Lucky asshole. At least if Hannah died she would come back, just in a different body. Thierry has unlimited lifetimes with Hannah. It infuriated Ash that he had only one stinking lifetime with Mary- Lynette, most of which he was wasting in an attempt to be all noble a handful of states away from her. And here he was; not packing and announcing his return to Oregon as he should have been but reporting to Thierry for another daybreaker mission. Wasn't un-life great?

Ash entered Thierry's office with a scowl unhidden on his features. Pushing the heavy door shut behind him he could hear Thierry finishing a phone call. At eye-contact Thierry beckoned Ash to come in and sit.

"Right. Okay. Well you should stay in the area for a couple more days. Keep looking round, it may be that you just have the wrong person. We had a strong reason to believe that one of them was in the area. Just make sure. Okay. Call me tomorrow for updates. Okay, bye." He replaced the receiver on its recharger and then looked at Ash. "Poppy and James." Thierry told a bored- looking Ash who really didn't seem to care. "The Wild Power in Rome is apparently a no-go. A fake. Not that we don't love those." He exhaled heavily at Ash's nonchalant expression, "Look Ash, I know you're not happy to be called up for another mission-"

"Is it that obvious?" Ash answered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Theirry gave a warning frown then ploughed on, "We've got another report: "Blue flashes in the early hours of the morning every day for three weeks straight'" Thierry read, " It's in a tiny place." Thierry smiled waving the piece of paper, " I think you'll like this one. It's why I chose you for this mission."

"Hmph. Where is it?" Ash asked grudgingly.

Thierry was quiet for a moment, "… Oregon,"

Ash's head snapped up

"Briar Creek." Before Thierry had finished his final word Ash had the piece of paper grasped in his own hand and was quickly striding from the room.

**_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_**

Stargazing. Mary- Lynette didn't even need a telescope anymore, she was confident that she could map all of the stars without the help of a telescope.

"_Even when we're apart, we'll be looking at the same sky!"_

"_What a line."_

_What a line._

Mary- Lynette had taken those words to heart spending almost every night out looking at the stars since Ash had left. Hanging on to those words she had realized an aching present in her that had only developed since Ash's absence. _Is it wrong that I miss his shins more than him? _she thought wickedly. At the discovery of the true dangers of the nightworld; of the creatures like Jeremy, she had decided to take up self -defence classes. Although it wasn't exactly fair fighting she felt much safer knowing that she could defend herself. It was also a great place to vent her anger; even with such a large distance between them Mary- Lynette managed to find plenty of things to be angry at Ash for; the latest being his letters or lack thereof. She also now wore a hip holster, which her shirt easily hid. It held a sharpened yew branch and a small silver knife. She had returned the spot where she had allowed herself to kiss Ash a couple of nights after he left to reclaim the sharpened yew branch. She had recovered the knife from the ruins of her car- not personally. A policeman had retrieved it for her. She had been surprised at the police after that night; there had been very few questions or even suspicious looks after the discovery of Jeremy's human form body in the car wreck. Ash and the night people must have taken care of it she had decided. _It's not like he's all I think about_ she told herself indignantly. She slammed shut her biology notebook and gave a huff: she had just lost another argument with herself. Plastered all over the front (and back) og her biology notebook were pictures of trees; guys with blond hair and strangely elongated canine teeth; and the word 'ASH' printed in various colours and fonts. She rolled onto her back exhaling heavily. Well this wasn't an _Ash _tree that she was revising under; it was a _willow_ tree she thought to herself proudly; _yep, I'm not obsessed_. Out of the corner of her eye she faintly registered a black land- rover pull over a short way down the road from her tree._ Ash's car is black _she thought, _but it's a ford escort not a land- rover. That's it, _she told herself fiercely, _you can't just sit here in your little secluded willow tree world and mope. Get up, go see Rowan, Kestrel and Jade or something._ She rolled over with a groan collecting her books as she climbed to her feet. Without warning possessively strong arms slid around her waist. Startled at first she dropped her books but then her classes kicked in. Literally. Bringing her sneaker- shod foot up she slammed her heel down on her attackers toes and followed it with a sharp jab of her elbow to his ribs. His arms remained locked barring her passage to freedom so she threw her head back, cracking him on the nose with the back of her head, he let go of her with a protesting "_Hey!"_ Before he could do anything more she turned and delivered a powerful kick to his left shin. He brought his own leg up, hugging it whilst one of his hands cupped his bleeding nose. A bit of an undignified move for a attacker she thought.

"Mary- Lynette it's _me_."

Oh 

"Oh. Ash." She said stupidly. It was Ash. Ash. Ash in all his stupid hopping and bleeding patheticness. Ash. Crap.

"Oh, crap. Ash I'm so sorry."


	2. chapter 2

They remained like this for a few moments; Mary- Lynette watching Ash's antics, a horrified expression hidden by her hand. Then Mary- Lynette could no longer suppress the laughter bubbling up inside her. She doubled over with a burst of laughter. He looked so stupid; like he was doing a funky chicken dance. One hand was cupped over his bloody nose, the other was clutching his left shin, all the while hopping on his good leg to maintain his balance. Some evil- bloodsucker.

"You idiot. Stop that."

Ash released his leg and gingerly placed it on the ground once again, "Oh, thank you. I suppose an idiot is better than a gorilla." He bent over trying to avoid dripping blood onto his shirt, "I can see you've learnt some new tricks." He accused thickly through the blood.

"Oh, shut up." She pushed him down into a sitting position, his back against the trunk of the willow, then dropped to her knees beside him. "Let me see."

"No."

"Come on," she slapped his hands away from his face taking pleasure in the sharp jolts that traveled through her at the skin- contact. Unfortunately also jarring Ash's bloody nose.

"_Ah!_" he protested.

"Stop being such a baby."

"I wouldn't have to I you hadn't- _ouch!_" She had tilted his head back purposely prodding him the nose to shut him up. It didn't work. "I come back after four months to see my soulmate and _this_ is the welcome I get!"

"Well maybe if you'd _told_ your soulmate that you were coming; goven some king of warning… Keep your head back," she instructed pushing his forehead back as he lifted it to argue. "It'll stop the bleeding." She pulled a pack of tissue's out of her back jeans pocket, "Right, now hold still." She warned advancing on him with the small square of tissue paper.

"No, just leave it." He said covering his nose with his hand again.

"I've gotta wipe the blood away."

"No wait, I'll do it."

"Just… hold still will you!"

She had wrestled his hand away from his face and, looking down at him was dabbing the blood away gently. After a lot of squirming and light slap's being applied to Ash's face she managed to clear the blood, finally giving herself a clear view of the vampire she remembered. He didn't look very different: his ash blond hair maintained it's colour although at the moment it was mussed and messy; his eyes still shifted in and out of colours but new shadows had taken residency beneath them. They were looking into each other's eyes. Ash, she realized, was examining her in the same way that she was analyzing him. Clearing her throat she sat back on her heels allowing him to straighten his neck. They simply sat, neither of them knowing what to say. Finally Ash said, "You know that's the first time I've heard you laugh."

Mary- Lynette tried to recall a memory to prove him wrong but none came. _Wow, _she thought, _we could barely be classified as friends let alone soulmates._

"You know," she said finally, "that's the first time I've seen you bleed… oh, no wait…" she sneered evilly, dealing with the sentimental comment the only way she knew how: sarcasm. She knew Ash was touchy about being knocked out by Jeremy on that night, if she could get him angry then he wouldn't kick into emotional mode straight away.

He knew her tactic: "Why do you do that?"

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Pretend that you don't… care, that you haven't…" he paused, grimaced, then shrugged, "missed me." He said finally.

"I'm not pretending anything-" she started but he cut her off.

"Okay. Fine, whatever you say. Just… come on." He stood and pulled her to her feet.

"Where are we going?"

"Just to the car. Come on."

Hold on." She gathered up her books, tucking the tell- tale notebook out of sight, then followed him over the field to the black land-rover.

"This isn't your car-" she began.

"We can't talk out here." He said walking round to the driver's side, "Get in."

Scowling slightly at being cut off twice and at Ash's requests sounding more like orders, she obeyed. Noticing for the first time that the windows were blacked out rendering inside the car non- visible from the outside she slammed the car door shut.

"Okay…" she said settling into the seat as Ash did the same in his behind the wheel. "What did that mean?"

"Are your parents home?" he asked.

"It's nine in the morning; Dad and Claudine are at work, I'm on study leave. What's going on? Why are you here?"

"Thierry sent me."

"Who?"

"Thierry Descoudres, an elder of the Nightworld; leader of circle daybreak; pain in my ass."

"Sounds cool."

He shot her a meaningful sideways glance then carried on, " Circle Daybreak is a group of people, both human and night people. They want the Nightworld and humans to live in peace, together. Which, of course, would mean revealing the existence of the Nightworld to them."

She was silent a moment, staring out of the window. "You did it." She said slowly, a frown on her face, "You really did it. I didn't think that you… that you… and this soon." She whistled. "So that's it? You're not part of the Nightworld anymore?"

"Who said I was part of Circle Daybreak?"

She looked at him sharply.

"Okay." He conceded. "Good guess." He started the engine of the land- rover, "Look, a lot of people know I'm part of Circle Daybreak, and well, we Daybreakers' aren't very popular in the Nightworld. If anyone sees me with you… they know my weakness. We'll go to your place, no people from the Nightworld will see us there. I'll explain everything there."

Mary- Lynette noticed as he pulled away from the curb, that he had avoided answering her last question.


	3. Chapter 3

They parked the car around the side of the house and Ash followed Mary- Lynette to the front door. As she was pulling out her keys and inserting them into the lock she could have sworn she felt a Ash's presence centimeters behind and a light stroke on her hair, but when she pushed the door open and turned to look, Ash was an arms length away on the bottom step waiting for her to go in. She went in, walking to the living room to dump her keys on the coffee table. She heard Ash shut the door behind him as he followed her in and then the soft complaining of the couch as he fell into a three- seater behind her. She left him there, walking through to the kitchen to grab two packets of cheeto's. When she came back through she thought he was asleep; he was laid on his back, his legs dangling over the end of the couch with his arm draped across his eyes.

He lifted his arm to catch her watching him, "They for me?"

She tossed him a bag and then settled on the floor beside the three- seater as he sat up.

"Alright." He began, "One from the land of kings long forgotten;

One from the hearth which still holds the spark;

One from the Day World where two eyes are watching;

One from the twilight to be one with the dark."

"I don't think I've read that one." She told him confused.

"It's a prophecy. There was another bit to it but I can't remember how it goes. It talks about four Wild Powers and the time of the humans' ruling coming to an end. At the millennium something is going to happen and the Night World will take over the world again. Human's will become slaves; it's happened before, a thousand years ago."

"So what are Wild Powers?" She ripped open her bag of cheeto's and began to munch.

Ash did the same but with much more vigor before continuing, "Apparently these Wild Powers are the only ones that can prevent this from happening. There was something about 'four less than one'… one…" he puckered his forehead trying to remember and then gave up, "I don't know. But all four Wild Powers are needed to save your world; to keep it as it is."

She stopped munching. "Ash… the millennium is in two years."

"Yeah." He said soberly.

"This thing—it's in my lifetime?"

He nodded grimly. "Circle Daybreak are trying to find the Wild Powers; to protect them. That's what I'm doing here. We got some reports of blue flashes in the early morning here in Briar Creek. Have you seen anything like that?"

"Sorry. I kind of like to sleep in the 'early morning'"

"Yeah." Ash said, an image of her sleeping flashing through his mind. He shook his head, "But the Night World wants this prophecy to come true: they want to control humans again. So they're doing the same as Circle Dyabreak."

She frowned, "Looking for them… to protect them?"

He shook his head, "Looking for them to kill them. 'Four less one'; all they have to do is kill one of them and then that's it. Game Over. They're probably here already. They will have heard the report that we did and they'll be looking for the Wild Power in Briar Creek. That's why we couldn't talk outside."

She didn't know what to say. Finally she said, "Can I help?"

"No I don't want you involved in this." He stated quickly as though he had anticipated her saying this.

"Ash, if I can withstand getting attacked by a werewolf I should be able to find one stupid Wild Power." She said angrily getting to her feet.

"No. It's too dangerous. If the Night Worlder's figure out what you're looking for then they'll kill you just like _that_." Ash also got to his feet, clicking his fingers in front of her face to emphasize his point.

"For God's sake Ash. I _can_ take care of myself—"

That's when the window shattered and Ash stumbled forward as the bullet entered the back of his shoulder.

"What the—?" Mary- Lynette rushed to the window trying to glimpse the shooter. He was standing in plain view, not even attempting to hide his prominent appearance. Short brown hair, lean and wearing clothes any normal teenaged would, he raised the gun to shoot again.

" Get _down_!" Ash pulled her to the floor as the bullet shot into the room. "Sure, you can take care of yourself." He said as he wrestled a tall expensive looking grandfather clock to block the window, grunting with the effort and pain from his shoulder.

_Oh yeah! Is **that** right? I'll show you; I take care of both of us!_ She thought angrily and determinedly. She got to her feet and ran out of the room.

"Mary- Lynette! What the hell are you doing! Come back!" Ash tried to follow but the grandfather clock fell forward in his path. The broken window framed a rapidly transforming werewolf. "Shit!" he cursed.

Mary- Lynette ran in a half crouch to the stairs, ignoring the multiple gun shots ringing out and the shattering of glass all around her. A figure climbed in through a window behind her as ran up the stairs. She heard the heavy footsteps on the stairs meaning he was following her. _Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. _She flung her door shut behind her scrabbling with the key to lock it. A weight crashed against the other side of the door just as it turned. She crawled away from the door unable to tear her eyes away from it.

_What are you doing? Don't just sit there! **Get a grip**! Think, where did you put it?_

Her heart was beating so fast she could hardly think. She went to her closet. Her shaking hands pulled random pieces of paper and clothes out onto the floor. _Where is it? Where is it?_ Her hands desperately searched the back of the closet for the tiny wooden box… _there_! Her hand closed on it. The door cracked, threatening to give way to the weight being repeatedly thrown against it. She jumped at the noise, retreating into a far corner of the room. Tears sprang from her eyes as the clasp on the box refused to release. With a cry somewhere between fear and frustration, it popped open. The weakened door gave a final protesting groan then the frame ripped away as the assaulter gave it a kick and the door flung open. The shooter from outside laughed seeing her cowering in a corner and strode inside.

_Bunnie said this would help- that it would-_ with a final cry of frustration she pulled back the lid of the box. A blinding blue light exploded from it. It's power pushed her against the corner, also knocking the shooter flat on his back. It seemed to crackle with electrical energy. It filled the room, continuing to grow until it absorbed through the walls and could no longer be seen.

"_That was **it**_!" she cried to the ceiling angrily.

Ash rolled as a chair crashed down into the spot where he had been thrown. He jumped to his feet pulling a silver stake from the small of his back—then was on the floor again. S was the werewolf. A blue fire swept through the room knocking them both down. Ash didn't have time to wonder about it, he recovered fist leaping on the 'wolf and thrusting the stake into it's rib cage. It gave a piercing scream and a final shudder. Then the fur slid of it as it transformed back into its human form to die. Ash gave a sight of relief.

"_Get off me you bast_—aargh!"

_Mary- Lynette. _

Ash took the stairs three at a time. He reached a star-strewn room to see Mary- Lynette pinned down on a bed, a boy kneeling over her his head bent to her neck. Suddenly she had a stake in her fist and was plunging it into the vampires back.

"Aaargh!" he screamed in pain and twisted Mary- Lynette arms giving her a hard hit.

"Hey!" The vampire looked up to see Ash's fist swinging into his face. Ash hauled him off Mary- Lynette pulling out his own stake. Before any of them knew it, the stake was embedded to the end in the vampires temple.


	4. Chapter 4

Ash pushed the body to the floor disgustedly then turned to Mary- Lynette. He pulled he into a sitting position and hugged her fiercely, "Are you okay? Mary- Lynette, _are you okay?_"

She pushed him away gently. "I'm fine. I told you I could take care of myself, you didn't have to do that." She turned away from Ash and saw the rapidly decomposing body. A pool of blood bathed the leathery-skinned head, making the hair appear a copper colour. Ash walked past the body to the door- way. "Ash I'm sorry, please don't leave me here with this thing."

Ash turned to look at her, "You don't have to be so strong and god-damn stubborn you know."

He strode back in and grasped the corpse by the collar then proceeded to drag it from the room. "Stay here." He instructed, "I'm going to see if there's any one else in the house." He shut the door behind him. Mary- Lynette was left the stare at the trail of blood beginning in the center of her room and disappearing under her doorway. She crouched back in her corner and hugged her knees, her eyes tightly shut. Her new philosophy for the time being was 'If you can't see it then it can't see you.'

Ash opened a cupboard a short way down the hall from Mary- Lynette's room and shoved the leathery corpse inside: this guy hadn't been a vampire very long. I can't drag it around with me, he reasoned, there could be more Night People in the house, and I can't just leave it out here for Mary- Lynette to find if she has to come out here for some reason. Ash stopped before closing the door to the cupboard, squinting slightly he examined the stake protruding from the corpse's back. It was a strong yew stake, _the_ yew stake that she had made that night with Jeremy. Grimacing at the pain in his shoulder he bent and tugged it out, slipping it up his sleeve.

After a careful examination of what was left of Mary- Lynette's house he concluded that there was no more Night People inside, or outside in fact. They had left. _The blue fire_, Ash thought, _Is Mary- Lynette a Wild Power?_ _Well, _he surveyed the living room remains; _she won't be for long if she is. Her parents will kill her themselves when they see this mess. _

Mary- Lynette.

Ash went back upstairs dimly aware that he hadn't fed since he'd begun the drive from Las Vegas. His eyes were dilated at the smell of blood all around the house. He reached Mary- Lynette's room and pushed the door open, "Mare?" he called tentatively, she wasn't sat on the bed where he'd left her, "Mary- Lynette?" He called again, panic rising in his voice. He couldn't see her. Then there was movement in the corner. There was Mary- Lynette.

"Ash?"

He released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, "Yeah. It's me." He pulled her to her feet and embraced her tightly for the second time. But this time she didn't push him away. She buried her face in his shoulder, her fist grasping handfuls of his shirt at his back. But his face was near her bitten neck, the smell of fresh blood was too strong and he hadn't fed in a long time .He could feel his fangs elongating in anticipation. This time it was him that gently pushed her away, parting her fingers from his shirt to intertwine them with is own.

"Are you okay?" She asked surveying his swollen mouth and dilated pupils.

"Yeah, it's just, I need to feed pretty soon." He fingered the bruise developing at the left corner of her mouth from where the vampire ha stuck her. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

She shook her head. "Turn around."

He obeyed.

"Take off your shirt."

"What?"

"I've gotta get the bullet out." She told him calmly.

He removed his shirt stiffly, trying not to move the wounded arm too much, " I should have known you'd want to do this. You enjoy conflicting pain way too much, " he said jokingly.

When Mary- Lynette placed both of her hands on his bare shoulder massaging around the wound to find the bullet, Ash was torn between the pain and the pleasurable pink haze that clouded his vision. He almost voiced a protest when her palms left his shoulder, "Will I live?" he asked.

"It's not in deep, I could probably get it out myself… with these." Having found what she wanted she triumphantly brandished the pair of tweezers, in her other hand was a torch. "But," she added, "It's going to hurt."

She remained stood several paced from his as though waiting for an answer.

"Hey, I've been tortured for information before. I'm sure I can withstand this."

She walked toward him hesitantly; " I did say _probably, _I mean, I might just make it worse."

"Do it."

"Ash this isn't some stupid test of trust or anything. We could take you to the hospital and then-"

"And then your Dad and Claudine would come back to an empty ransacked house and panic. Mary- Lynette, just do it."

Wordlessly she flicked the torch on and positioned herself behind him. She fiddled with the torch for a couple of minutes until she could see the shiny butt of the bullet reflecting light. She clasped the ends of the tweezers tightly together and inserted them into the wound. Ash flinched but made no sound. She allowed the clasped ands to touch the butt of the bullet then released the pressure holding them together. The tweezers widened pushing the wound open wider, Ash hissed with pain but didn't move away.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"What happened to—aargh—to 'don't be such a baby'?"

"That was a pathetic little nose bleed. This a gun -shot wound. Alright, now don't hate me."

"What?"

Quickly she jabbed the tweezers deeper clasping the ends over the diameter of the bullet, then with a twist of her wrist, helped with Ash's jerking away from her, the bullet came free glistening with Ash's blood.

"**_OUCH!"_**

"I got it." She said as if this was worth all of the pain that he had just been through.

He grimaced at her, "Maybe next time we'll just leave it in." He was holding his shoulder away from her as though she might begin to beat on it for fun.

She rolled her eyes and left the room, returning with an armful of bandages.

"Vampire remember," he told her, "It'll heal itself soon enough."

"Soon enough isn't good enough." She said. No matter how much she knew he was right, leaving the wound open just seemed too careless to her. "But," she stood back trying to line up the bandage in a way that it would cover the wound, "this is going to be really awkward to bandage up."

Ash was going to tell her not to bother but she was already placing the bandage across his front and reaching around him in an almost embrace to catch the end at his back. Taking pleasure in the 'almost embrace' as it meant that she had to lean into his bare chest to reach around him, he said instead, "I'll try to make it hit somewhere more convenient next time."

She fiddled with the last bit of the bandage tucking it in at the front, then with nothing left to do, to both of their dismay's, stepped back finishing any contact between them. Ash found that it was getting difficult to breathe; he needed blood.

"I've got to go feed." He told her. She opened her mouth to say something but he cut over her remembering something from earlier on; "Did you do anything? When I was downstairs? There was this blue fire that came through the walls—"

She nodded, "Bunnie gave me this box." She showed it to him, "she said if I was in trouble it would help. It wouldn't let people get in or something."

"It was a spell?"

Mary- Lynette shrugged, "But may I point out that I '_took care'_ of _both_ of us back there."

Ash ignored the comment. "Well the Night People thought it was a Wild Power, that's probably why they retreated so easily. Mare, you were the only one in the house other then me. This is trouble; they think you're a Wild Power. They're going to be after you." He felt a muscle spasm as it complained for oxygen, "I've really got to go. You'll be all right here, they wont come back this soon. I'll be back as soon as I can."

She grasped his arm as he reached for his shirt and gave a kind of hysterical laugh, "You are _not_ leaving me in this house alone."

"I've got to feed."

"After telling me _that_? I don't care, eat the goldfish or something but don't you _dare_ leave me."

"Mare, it's not just something I can forget about, it can't just wait till later. D'you think I _want_ to leave you? I'll be back really soon." He closed the gap, giving her a quick unexpected kiss to reassure her then proceeded to reach for his shirt. She caught his arm again, the look of happy shock quickly changing to the look that one has after being hit with an idea.

"Feed on me." She looked at him her eyes steady.

"No. You've already been fed on, if I took more you'd be too weak to do anything."

"So I'll sleep for a couple of days afterward." She shrugged, "It's not a big deal."

"_Yes it is_." He said through clenched teeth; he was fighting new muscle spasms. _I don't know if I'll be able to hunt out an animal in time _he thought with panic. Any other thoughts he might have had were cut off as Marry- Lynette was hesitantly reaching her hand up to Ash's head and pulling it down to her own. He remembered that awkward lining up for the kiss. He struggled at first knowing that she would get him to feed, then gave in as a strong desire washed over him. The first kiss was hesitant as Mary- Lynette was unsure of what to do. The second more natural, the third more confident, until the kisses became demanding. Ash pulled her to him as close as she could get as though trying desperately to merge them into one body. Their hands wandered up and down one another, looking for hand- holds to keep them steady. Eventually Ash settled for picking Mary- Lynette up, wrapping her legs around his waist. He walked to the bed and fell forward ending up angled over her as they kissed. Ash gave a groan as his muscles complained at his new feeding schedule and Mary- Lynette dragged him to her wounded neck.


	5. Chapter 5

There was no pain. No sharp double sting; the holes were already there. Although Ash drawing blood from her felt strange; as though her was trying to suck out her soul. Something she was happily willing to let him do right now. And then Ash's mind was there with hers, enveloping hers like a protective blanket. She could hide nothing from him and he could hide nothing form her. Their every though and feeling was laid out for the other to see.

Ash could sense a longing in Mary-Lynette, a longing to give herself up to him wholly; to let him hold and protect her; to let him play the typical boyfriend role, but she was afraid. She was afraid of what he would expect of her. A chain of fears flashed before him: she was old, so old. He was young. And he was walking away from her claiming he didn't want a hag as a soulmate. A simple relationship… what did that mean? Would she have to cook for him? She couldn't even cook pasta. Would she have to change her appearance for him? She hated wearing make-up and glitzy dresses and acting like an air-head. What about sex? Would he expect her to just give herself to him whenever he wanted? Mary- Lynette was petrified. The most intimate thing she'd ever done was this right now. And then another question filled with angst flashed before his mind; Ash had fallen in love with the confident outspoken kick-you-in-the-shins-if-you-say-anything-cocky Mary-Lynette. If he saw all of these insecurities would he just, walk away?

_Mary- Lynette, **no. **All of this,_ he mentally motioned, _this is just silly. I couldn't leave you anymore than I could leave myself. Mare**, you are a part of myself**_

_I know that,_ she said, he mental voice small, _I can't help feeling this way though._

There was a flash of light in their combined minds and Mary- Lynette felt earnestness so strong that she had never encountered anything like it before.

_Don't worry_, Ash thought fiercely to her, _I'll prove it to you, I'll make myself good enough for you, I promise. I don't care if you're wrinkly and old-_

_Ash…_

_Okay, I might care a little bit, but that won't stop me from being with you!_

Mary- Lynette's pink soulmate haze flushed with fondness as she felt the striving feeling from Ash to prove all of her fears and insecurities wrong.

Then they simply basked in the presence of one another, feeling shiver of pleasure as their soulmate link yelled, _finally!_

Ash felt Mary- Lynette gently probing through his memories of the past four months, _You didn't want me to stay just because you were afraid, _he accused

_No, _she admitted, _I think it's time to see those dragons you promised me._

Mary- Lynette felt his faint barriers collapse admitting her to his memories. In the same way Ash swept into her memories of the past four months:

She was shopping with his sisters when she stopped in her tracks. She squinted, pushing people aside as she approached the figure. He was lanky, lounging against a pole, his ash- blonde head bobbing as he laughed with his friends. She grasped his hand, twirling him around. "Sorry," she had said, "I thought you were someone else."

"I can be whoever you want me to be sweetheart" He had said looking her up and down. She had walked back to her sister, ignoring the sympathetic looks they were exchanging with one another.

Mary- Lynette searched Ash's memories, surveying those he felt strongly about:

He was in a typical Night World bar unsure of how to start his new mission when a girl had walked in. Obviously new to the Night World and unsure of herself: she had attracted attention like sharks to a kill. The vampires had swarmed around the blatantly obvious newbie hoping to get a nibble, but Ash had heroically stepped in, pulling her back outside to safety.

"They're not as- tolerant- of humans as I am. So my advice is, get in your car, drive away, and never come back."

"_How come you're so tolerant?"_

He had given her an odd look then smiled. A lazy smile but allowing her to see something heart-wrenching behind it, _"I met a human girl last summer."_ It had seemed to explain everything.

With this memory felt a burning proudness within him; this had been his first mark, the beginnings of his new life. He was headed to circle daybreak. Laced and woven into every one of his memories she could sense a frustration almost anger at not being able to be with her: he had missed her just as much as she had missed him. Then Mary- Lynette felt a memory pass, levels of immeasurable guilt radiating from it: she pursued it.

_Mary- Lynette, **no!** _Ash yelled to her mind desperately, but it was too late.

She saw Ash in another bar. He was speaking to a woman. A vampire. He surveyed her very-low-neck-line halter- top, tiny leather skirt and long legs with a deep appetite in his eyes. She seemed to be playing up to him; rubbing her foot up his leg and tossing her hair flirtatiously.

"Why don't we get something to eat, hmm?" She snapped her fingers and a small form was thrown to the floor at their feet. A girl, no older or younger than Mary- Lynette and with an uncanny resemblance. Something that had roused a panic in Ash. The vampire woman was reaching for the girl, her teeth bared viciously. Ash had lightly kicked the girl, sending her sliding over the floor and out of harms way. He had grasped the vampire around her waist and pulled her to him roughly.

"I had something much more… pleasurable, in mind." He said as she smiled at him. And then he kissed her. A scorching kiss filled with lust. Not the timid or even demanding kisses that she had experienced with Ash; something much more powerful, playful, rough.

Mary- Lynette's physical body stiffened beneath his. An anger flaring up inside of her so profound that it violently ripped at the soulmate chord cleanly cutting it in an instant. They were back in their own minds. And then Ash felt a beating on his bare chest. Mary- Lynette's small fists struck him wherever they could reach, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Get off. _Get off me_. GET OFF OF ME!"

He stumble away, dazed at being violently wrenched out of her mind.

"You _jerk_!" she gasped, "I don't _believe _I thought you would actually—that you _could—change!"_

"Mary- Lynette-" he started towards her.

"Don't!" She was trembling with anger, breathing laboriously, "_Don't you come near me_." She whispered dangerously.

" You don't understand—she was—it was _fake!_—_It wasn't real_!"

"Get out." She whispered. He hesitated, "Get out, _get out_, GET OUT!"

He snatched up his shirt and fled, afraid that her body couldn't take the level of anger that she was building up inside of her.


	6. Chapter 6

Ash saw Mark and Jade laden with shopping bags as he left, but they weren't proceeding indoors, they were simply standing outside the doorway looking inside, indredulous expressions on both of their faces. When they saw him they looked even more surprised.

"Ash." Jade said, "What are you doing here? Are you back?"

Mark eyed the half-buttoned shirt Ash was wearing, a dangerous look creeping onto his own features, "Where's Mary-Lynette? And what happened here?" He motioned to the mess that could be seen from the doorway, "Dad and Claudine are gonna flip."

"Mary-Lynette's upstairs. Make sure she eats a lot and stays in bed for the next couple of days." He moved to go through the doorway to get past them, and was thrown backwards into the stairway.

"Like I said," Mark told Ash, a note of satisfaction in his voice, "What happened here? We can't get in and obviously you can't get out. And what the hell did do to my sister?"

Ash gave an irritated growl as wincing, he got to his feet, "Mary- Lynette," he called up the stairs.

"GET OUT!"

"The spell!"

A few seconds later there was a blinding blue flash and Ash was knocked off his feet again as the spell was withdrawn back into it's box.

_Is there even any point of me getting up again?_ He thought as he eyed Mark who looked as though he had come to his own conclusions about Ash's half-buttoned shirt and Mary- Lynette's angry mood. _Well, _he thought climbing gingerly to his feet again; his shoulder was searing with pain, _if he tries to stop me I won't kill him. I'll just hurt him a little bit. Mary-Lynette will forgive me for that even if she doesn't forgive me for what she saw. _Ash pushed past Mark and Jade as he headed for the nearest forest. Right now he just wanted to let his anger out, the best way to do that was to hunt.

Mark dumped his bags on the front step and rushed upstairs calling 'Mary- Lynette?" Jade followed suit. They found he placing a small box on an easily reachable shelf in he room.

"What happened?" Mark asked grasping his sister by her shoulders.

She shrugged him off, "Nothing."

Jade's dainty nose was in the air, she wrinkled as though trying to be rid of an itch before saying; "This whole house stinks of werewolf."

Mark found her shoulders again, "There was a werewolf here? Are you okay?" He was shaking he slightly now. Her lack of blood had made her dizzy enough already and Mark's rattling was no helping. Gently she pried his hands from her shoulders and placed them in Jade's. Then swaying slightly she went down stairs. She went first to the grandfather clock attempting to lift it back into its rightful position. She probably could not have done this in her normal state let alone in her weakened and dizzy one Mark and Jade, having followed her down stairs watched her useless attempts from the living room doorway.

"Help me will you?" She snapped at them both, annoyed because of her weakened state, "We've got to sort this place out before Dad and Claudine get home."

Silently the couple moved to help. Soon the three of them had managed to get the grandfather clock in its original place, and had managed to give the house its original appearance. During which Mark and Jade managed to get the story of what had happened from Mary-Lynette, it was like trying to get blood from a stone. And when Mark asked why she was angry at Ash in a much too sensitive voice her face went stony and she refused to say anything else on the subject. Soon there were just a couple of bullet holes in the walls and in the sofas' but other then that it looked normal.

"Okay," Mark said when they were nearly finished, "Mare, you should go to bed, you look a little pale." This was an understatement, her pupils were dilated and unfocused, she was swaying on her feet and she was as white as a sheet. "Me and Jade'll finish up here."

Mary-Lynette placed her hands on her hips in an act of rebellion, "No you will not. Mark you can get the plaster and start filling in those holes. Jade can you get a needle and thread and sort out the sofas'? And I'll get the hoover."

Before Mark could begin to argue Mary-Lynette cut in, "And there's no point in arguing because you won't win."

Mark sighed. It was evident that Mary-Lynette could would not be dissuaded, why did she have to be so stubborn all of the time? "It's upstairs in that cupboard a little way down from you're room."

Mark watched her climb the stairs with a little too much reliance on the banister for his liking.

Ash was heading back to his car outside Mary-Lynette's house his anger having faded, when he heard Mary-Lynette's scream. He sped up leaping through the already broken window and rushing past Mark and Jade on the stairs. When he got to the top he relaxed. True it wasn't such a good thing that Mary-Lynette was throwing up in the newly cleaned house, but it was far better that the vampire that had scared her was dead instead of alive.

"That stupid vampire." Mary-Lynette cursed Ash, and then she saw him.

Ash had to dodge around Mary-Lynette's kicks and punches to grasp the leathery corpse that he had shoved in the closet earlier on that day by the collar and drag it from the house. This was just great. He had spent less than a day with his soulmate and already she hated him. He couldn't leave her; with Hunter's cronies everywhere probably reporting that Mary-Lynette was a wild power she wasn't safe alone. He would have to stay and keep watch over her. After today's events he was going to have to do it secretly from the shadows, it felt weird it was way too much like stalking to him and if she found out… man would she be pissed off.


	7. Chapter 7

Ash watched Mary-Lynette for the rest of the day. He watched her snap at her Dad as he and Claudine rushed inside the house demanding to know why there were several smashed windows. He watched her storm upstairs and slam her bedroom door. He watched her cross the room to her window and lean on the sill with silent tears running down her face. He watched her cry the night away and then modestly averted his eyes as she changed clothes and crawled into bed. It broke his dead heart to see her in so much pain and not be able to offer comfort. It hurt even more to know that he was the cause of her pain. There was more to the memory than she had seen… much more. If he could only get her to listen to him so that he could explain then everything would be alright. He knew better than to force his presence upon her though; he would have to wait until she'd cooled off; until she was ready to listen to him.

Ash stationed himself for the night between two branches in a tree outside Mary-Lynette's window, making sure he couldn't be seen. Here his mind replayed the day's events, lingering upon the moment when she chased that memory. He sank deep into his own thoughts, accessing the memory himself. There he was, a leggy blonde vampire practically sitting in his lap and his own tongue exploring her fangs. There was a whimpering in the background. The girl, meant for dinner earlier on, clutched a broken arm and cried quietly as she tried to crawl further away from the two monsters. Ash pulled away from the vampire, ending the kiss and then said coolly; "Stay right there beautiful, I'll be right back. It's cruel to leave an animal in misery; I'm just going to finish it off." He grasped the back of her head and deeply inhaled the scent of her perfume, scratching his fangs up her neck as he did. He then strode across the room toward the girl and lifted her by the back of the neck. She cried out even louder in fear and pain and began to scream and beg, kicking her legs in the air. He laughed evilly and then strode from the VIP area of the club, through the raving Night People and out of a fire door; leaving the club entirely. Once outside he lowered the girl to her feet and held her upright as her legs wobbled dangerously.

"You kicked me." She sobbed, "You broke my arm." She took several shuddering breaths and then looked at him; at his silver grey eyes and his elongated fangs. "You're a monster." She whispered.

"Yes I am." He whispered back, he gave a growl and then let her go, leaving her to support herself. "And this monster made a choice: a broken arm or a drained and lifeless body. You should thank me."

"Indeed you should," came a voice from the nearby shadows.

The girl gave scream, moving closer to Ash.

"What are you doing here?" Ash growled to Theirry Descoudres, leader of newly reformed Circle Daybreak.

"This is a very important mission that I entrusted to you Ash. And you're risking it on the life of one human who may now be too emotionally scarred to even consider the possibility of Night People and humans living together as one."

Ash looked at the girl standing beside him. She was holding herself up, nursing her broken arm but she was looking levelly at the vampire leader. Any human girl with half a brain would be four blocks away by now. He turned back to Thierry and shrugged, "She looks like her."

Thierry glanced at the girl and exhaled heavily, "Fine. Just get back in there. I'll look after the girl, you concentrate on what's important." Thierry held out a hand to the girl, she looked at Ash for instruction. He gave a short nod. She took Thierry's hand and they both began to walk out of the alley.

"Thierry." Ash called after him. Thierry stopped and turned, listening. "I'm not doing this again." And with that, Ash wrenched the fire door open and strode back into the club.

He pushed past the werewolf guarding the VIP area and made his way back toward the poufee occupied by the blonde.

She pulled him down next to her, "What took you so long?" She asked, running her black fingernails through his hair whilst her other hand slid up his t-shirt to scratch his chest.

Ash snarled at the scratches and then gave her a deep look of longing, "I didn't want to ruin the fun of a kill. I played with her a bit first."

She laughed, "Now is it my turn?"

He grasped her wrists and twisted her arms behind her back then ran his tongue up her neck. "Lets play a game," he said, "Tell me something, anything at all. If I don't like it then I'll do bad things to you. If I do like it, then I'll do _really _bad things to you."

She gave an appreciative groan. "Ok, you're on."

"Well?" He pressed.

"Hmm," she thought, "I'm more important than you think." She smiled.

He kissed her neck.

"Not good enough? Ok, I'm very important to the richest lamia vampire family there is."

He nibbled her neck.

She giggled with delight, "Hunter Redfern needs information that I have."

He lifted her from her seated position and pushed her up against a wall.

"Is that it bad boy, is this all you're going to do to me?" She pouted.

"Keep going." He snarled.

"Hunter Redfern is looking for Wild Powers: I know where one is. Is that good enough for you bad boy?" She smirked, looking proud of herself.

Ash smiled, "Thank-you. If I'd had to touch you again I would have thrown up."

She froze and began to squirm, "What? Who are you anyway?"

"Where is the Wild Power?"

"Let go of me."

"Where is the Wild Power?" He held her arms in place with one hand and reached into the small of his back for a wooden stake. He held it levelly over her chest.

"Get out of my club." She hissed.

"Where is the wild power?" He drove the stake partly into her chest.

"Erlib!!" She shrieked.

A werewolf came thundering into the VIP area. Ash cursed. He thrust the stake through to her back, finishing the vampire off and then leapt for a window. He didn't have any silver stakes on him and he really didn't feel like getting into a fight with a werewolf without one. He crashed through the glass and landed on the pavement outside. Listening for the scrabbling of claws on brick that told him the werewolf was following. He raced up a ladder leading to the roof of a building and leapt from roof to roof, putting as much distance between himself and the 'wolf as possible. But then he was falling. Falling toward the road.

Slamming into the ground was what woke Ash. He had fallen asleep in his tree. And it was daytime. Daytime. He scrambled back up to his feet and climbed to his post again to find out where Mary-Lynette was. Her room was empty. And her car was gone. Some protector he was. He cursed and then sprinted to his car, hidden in the nearby woods out of Mary-Lynette's sight. He doubted that Nightworld People would attack during the day in plain sight of everyone but then it was best not to assume. He drove past the house, past a man fitting new panes of glass into the living room window and into town, searching for her car.


	8. Chapter 8

It took longer than it should have for Ash to find Mary-Lynette in such a small town as Briar Creek was. Mainly because he began his search by looking for her old car. It took him 15 minutes of driving through the streets before he finally remembered that Mary-Lynette's old car had perished along with Jeremy. Remembering the old red ford that he had seen parked in the drive way on entering her house yesterday he quickly altered his search. He eventually found it parked up at the old garage that he had first met the werewolf Jeremy at. He parked the land rover around the side of the garage and then hopped out, heading for the door of the garage's shop.

"Oh my gosh, you mean it actually worked?"

"You gave me something for protection that you thought was _defective_??"

"Mary-Lynette you look really pale, are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Mary-Lynette snapped, "I wish people would stop asking me that." Mary-Lynette faintly registered the tinkling bell of the shop as someone else entered. She pulled out the small square box from her back pack and placed it on the counter in front of Bunnie. "I need you to tell me what this is and how you made it."

Bunnie's eyes widened and she quickly snatched it off the counter, looking around the small garage shop for anyone that might have seen it. "Mary-Lynette, you might not believe what I've got to tell you."

Mary-Lynette crossed her arms. She was not in the mood to play out dramatic scenes, "Try me."

"Well, what I put in that box… it was a spell. You see I'm a witch. I'm a frost witch."

"You're a _what_?"

"A frost witch. Oh no, or was it a 'crost witch'?"

Ash concealed himself behind a shelf of breakfast goods. He was relieved that Mary-Lynette was ok. Even more relieved that she hadn't noticed him as he entered the shop. It gave him an opportune time to find out information. He rolled his eyes as he listened to her conversation with the shop assistant. If this girl _was_ a lost witch, then it was pretty clear that she wasn't a very intelligent one.

"You're telling me you're a witch but you don't know which one."

"Right yeah anyway. I can do magic. I can do spells. Isn't that so cool?! I've been dying to tell someone but Jeremey made me swear not to tell. He said there were people from another world that would kill me if I did."

"Wait wait wait, Jeremy?? Dead Jeremy?"

"Mary-Lynette! Don't be so blunt."

"How can a dead were- erm guy make you swear to do something."

"Oh no, he made me swear but that was before that tragic car accident."

"So this was 4 or 5 months ago then."

Bunnie's blonde head nodded in agreement. "I thought it was a load of junk that he told me. But then one night I was bored and I decided to try something, and it worked! Well, it didn't actually _work_ work, but it did something!."

"How did you know what to do?"

"He gave me this really old musty book. It's got some pretty horrible things in it. Its part of the reason why I didn't want to try anything for so long as well."

"Bunnie please tell me that that box, is the only spell that you have done."

"Well, it's the only spell that worked. I've been trying to do this spell that someone highlighted in the book; it's pretty complex."

"Trying for how long?"

"Maybe a few weeks."

"And it didn't work?"

Bunnie shook her head. "I thought I'd finally cracked it last night. But nothing happened, so I guess I just got it wrong again.

"Bunnie can I have a look at that book?"

"Sure. You can come over after I've finished my shift. Mary-Lynette, you won't tell anyone what I've told you will you?"

"Of course not, I'll see you at yours later on tonight then."

"Ok."

"And YOU Mr. Redfern." Mary-Lynette spun around as Ash stepped out from behind a shelf of cornflakes, grasping a tube of Pringles as she did. "STOP following me; DON'T think that I don't know when you're there; and LEAVE ME ALONE!" She hurled the tube at Ash's head and then stormed out of the garage shop.


	9. Chapter 9

It took longer than it should have for Ash to find Mary-Lynette in such a small town as Briar Creek was

Ash sighed as he moved to return the tube of Pringles to the counter in front of Bunnie.

"Good catch." She commented, "Do you two know each other?"

"I need to see that book."

Bunnie crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I don't even know you. And judging from the reaction of Mary-Lynette, you're not a nice guy."

Ash rolled his eyes and allowed a growl deep in his chest. "Ok," he started, "You know about this other world?"

A look a little like a startled deer crossed Bunnie's features, "You heard me?"

Ash's eyes slid from their current emerald green to a feral silver, "I'm _from_ that other world little girl. I need to know about this spell you've been casting."

Ash could smell Bunnie's fear now; Jeremy had told her that if anyone from the Nightworld found out that she knew about it, then she would be killed. He would bet that that very thought was replaying over in her mind right now.

"For hell's sake, I'm not going to hurt you. Mary-Lynette is in danger ok. In danger from other people from my world because they think she's something that she isn't."

Bunny was looking at Ash with a mixture of awe and fear now, "Why do they think that?"

"Because of your spell." He growled, losing patience with the small minded girl.

She gave a little gasp.

"You might not see me but I'll be close to Mary-Lynette when she comes to look at that book. After she leaves, and I've made sure she's safe at her house, I'll be back to look at that book myself, ok."

Bunnie nodded. Whether or not she had actually understood everything that Ash had told her was another question, but it was one he didn't have time to waste pondering on. They would be looking for her by now, and Mary-Lynette was out there with no protection.

Ash strode from the garage shop toward his too conspicuous land rover and was soon on the road after Mary-Lynette. He opened the window hoping he could catch her scent, but it wasn't until he came across a set of lights just outside town on the route back to her house that he found her. The scene was a mess; there was Mary-Lynette's car, the driver's door wrenched off, stopped just before the traffic light. Two men had hold of a struggling girl – Mary-Lynette of course, whilst two other men flanked them obviously as back-up in case help arrived. There was a man lying on the floor, a worrying amount of blood pooling beneath his head, an innocent bystander Ash was willing to bet. Ash threw himself from the car, barrelling toward Mary-Lynette and her captors. At full strength Mary-Lynette might have stood a chance against her captors' strength, but right now her struggling wasn't having much effect at all. He reached the back-up vamps first, faltering slightly as each of them pulled out a wooden stake; they'd obviously been well informed of Ash's presence yesterday and had anticipated it again today.

The first vamp caught him square on the chin with a punch as he tried to grapple the stake from its fist. The second back-up vampire was behind him trying to pull his arms behind his back, Ash leaned down to touch the gravel, throwing the vampire clean over his head and into the first. He whirled and ran at the two men that had hold of Mary-Lynette. One of them abandoned her to face him, leaving her with just one vamp to struggle against. The man that had abandoned Mary-Lynette to face Ash definitely wasn't a vampire. He was pulling his clothes off as his body rapidly changed. It grew and swelled until the shape shifter stood twice Ash's height. Its huge paws helped the bear balance on its hind legs and it let out a mighty roar as it swept for him. Ash dodged to the side throwing a quick glance at Mary-Lynette. The glance cost him; the two vamps had recovered and pounded at him from the back. They threw him to the ground in front of the bear and the bear reared getting ready to bring nineteen stone and two armed paws crashing down onto his head. Decapitation was a problem for vampires sure, but Ash was pretty sure that having his head crushed into nothing would be just as effective at putting him out of action. He gave a burst of energy, kicking and struggling against the two vamps that were holding him down. If one of the vamps hadn't been a fat boy before he'd been turned then it might have worked, but Ash's struggles had little effect. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the bear's blow. The sound of a car's horn blasted near Ash's head and a huge thud told Ash that the bear was no longer at his head. He opened his eyes to see his feral looking cousin pouncing on the larger vamp that held him down. Kestrel pulled the vamp up throwing him like a rag doll to the side, then kicked the other vamp holding Ash down in the stomach sending him in a twirling arc through the air.

"Need a hand?" She offered, pulling him up.

"Thanks." Ash threw over his shoulder as he sprinted for Mary-Lynette. Jade and Rowan were grappling with the shifter, Jade already sporting four deep claw marks. A revving engine was probably Mark getting ready for another shot at the shifter with the car. It didn't take long for the vampire holding Mary-Lynette to realise that his team was now losing. Seeing Ash barrelling towards him he snarled, throwing Mary-Lynette towards Ash and then sprinted away. Mary-Lynette crashed into Ash and the two soulmates fell in a tangled heap on the road.

Kestrel lifted Mary-Lynette up, surveying Ash on the ground, "Smooth, Ash. You could have caught her or something at least."

Rowan was tending to the injured bystander, already on her mobile to presumably the hospital. The other two vampires and the shifter were gone; obviously fled after seeing their fourth member streak away.

Mary-Lynette was already limping away towards her car, "I don't want him to catch me. I don't want him to save me. I don't want him to touch me. I don't want him anywhere near me! Tell him to get that through his thick head!"

Mark intercepted Mary-Lynette on her limping mission, propping her up on the hood of his car next to Jade. A strip of Marks shirt was already wrapped around Jade's scratched arm. He lifted Mary-Lynette's leg, rolling back her jeans to take a look at the damage.

"Mary-Lynette you're hurt; you're weak; and you're a target." Ash tried to make her understand, "Whether or not you want me around doesn't matter. As long as you're at risk I'm not leaving you."

Mary-Lynette looked straight past Ash at Kestrel, "Kestrel can you stay round mine please? Until this whole thing is finished?"

Kestrel's eyes flicked from Ash to Mary-Lynette; from Ash's shoulders slumping in disappointment to Mary-Lynette's stubbornly set tight jaw. "Sure, no problem." She finally said.

Mary-Lynette looked back at Ash, "You're not needed. Now you can leave me alone."

Ash gave a sigh and a slight shake of his head. "Kestrel, be careful with her? Let me know if you need me."

"She won't!" Mary-Lynette called after him as he walked back to his car, "None of us do!"


	10. Chapter 10

It took longer than it should have for Ash to find Mary-Lynette in such a small town as Briar Creek was

Arriving back at the secluded house that used to belong to the vampire sisters deceased aunt, Jade Mark and Rowan were unsurprised to see Ash's black landrover parked outside. They entered one after the other, jumping the trick step they all knew was there. Rowan plonked herself down on the sofa at Ash's feet, Jade doing the same on a single armchair next to it whilst Mark explored the kitchen for food. Ash didn't lift his head or open his eyes; "Did they get back ok?"

"Kestrel is with her," Rowan told Ash, "She'll be fine. Stop worrying, and tell us what's going on instead."

"Mary-Lynette told us that you were attacked yesterday as well. By werewolves." Jade said simply.

Ash lifted his head to look at Jade, "Did she say anything about me?"

"She said you hadn't changed."

Ash's head fell back onto the couch with a groan.

"I think you've changed." Jade said thoughtfully, "You've got bags under your eyes now and you're stressed all the time."

Ash threw a pillow at her.

Rowan chucked Ash's legs down from the couch so that she could pull her own up to hug them with her arms, "Not that she'll have much luck, but Kestrel said she'll try to talk you back up in Mary-Lynette's mind."

Ash remained quiet.

"We want to help Ash. Is there anything we can do?" Rowan's steady eyes were on Ash.

He sighed then pulled himself upright on the couch, "Right now Hunter has people out in Briar Creek looking for something called a 'Wild Power'. They're just people; people with…abilities I guess. It's down to these wild powers to make sure that the night world doesn't rule again." Ash stole the bottle of Lucozade from Mark's arms as he walked in laden with food and waited whilst he settled on the arm of the one seater next to Jade. "There's this stupid human in the garage. Bunnie or something. She's been messing with witchcraft. The light shows that she's been throwing out with all her attempted spells have made Hunters people think that there's a Wild Power in town. Yesterday when we were attacked Mary-Lynette used something that Bunnie must have given her – something that threw out a blue light which looks a lot like the wild powers magicks. Now they think that Mary-Lynette is the wild power."

"Which explains the day-time full-view attack today." Rowan said.

"Yeah," Ash said taking a swig of the lucozade. "I was lucky you guys came along when you did."

"Well on the only road that leads from our house to town, I think you'd be pretty unlucky not to run into us." Mark added logically.

Ash inclined his head in agreement, "Mary-Lynette is going round to Bunnie's house tonight to look at a book that she's been using for this witchcraft. A book that Jeremy gave her."

"Jeremy the werewolf?" Jade asked.

"Do you know any other Jeremy in this town."

"Why would he teach Bunnie witchcraft? What would he gain by doing that?" Rowan voiced the question they were all thinking.

"I don't know. I'm going to find out tonight. I'm going to look at this book after Mary-Lynette has left."

"Don't be stupid Ash," Rowan told him, "Mary-Lynette's already angry at you. If you go around checking on what she's doing she'll only get more and more upset. We can let Kestrel check out this book; she's going to be going everywhere with Mare anyway."

"The best thing we can do to help is to try and find where Hunter's cronies are hiding out." Jade told him.

"There can't be many places where they could stay unnoticed in a tiny town like Briar Creek," Mark agreed.

Rowan went straight to the point that was on Ash's mind, "The best way that you can help Mare forgive you for whatever you've done is to give her some space. We'll focus on finding Hunter's people. Let her find out what's going on with Bunnie."

Ash looked at Rowan with a steely gaze, but he knew she was right.

"Okay," Mark said rubbing his hands, excited to have a new supernatural mystery to work on, "So lets brainstorm. Whereabouts in Briar Creek are they most likely to be hiding?"

"There's those woods, where you found out about us." Jade told him as she softly butted his arm with her head. He looked down at her, reaching his arm out around her shoulders. "And there's a few empty houses on the other side of town."

"Ok," Rowan said, "You two can check out the empty houses then and I'll do the woods. Ash…"

"I'm going to check out Mad Dog Creek." He interrupted before she could suggest anything.

"Ok. Sorted." Mark finished. "Meet back here say about 11 latest? If someone's not back by then, we assume they've found Hunter's men."

As the two sisters and Mark headed for the door Ash added quietly, "Keep your cell phone's on. In case Kestrel run's into trouble."

The three of them gave a wordless agreement and then headed for their assigned area. Ash closed the door as he left, opting to take the more stealthy approach of walking to Mad Dog Creek.

"What did he do?" Kestrel asked as softly as she could.

She and Mary-Lynette were in Mary-Lynette's car in the slowly fading daylight on the road to Bunnie's house. Mary-Lynette, both hands on the wheel, looked straight ahead, a short period of silence stretching between them before she finally answered;

"You know why you've been itching for a fight for so long?"

Kestrel raised her eyebrows then grimaced with embarrassment slightly, "Because I got romantically involved with a human then wasn't allowed to kill him when he turned out to be a slime ball who hit on Rowan?"

Mary-Lynette chuckled. "Yeah."

Kestrel waited a short while, to see if Mary-Lynette was going to embellish. When it became clear that she wasn't, she asked, "So Ash… hit on Rowan?"

This drew a laugh from Mary-Lynette. "I wish. At least if he'd tried that he would have a nice bruise to show for his efforts."

"So what did he do?"

Mary-Lynette sighed. "He kissed someone." She said simply. "A vampire. A vampire who likes to kill girls. That doesn't sound like a very changed Ash to me. It sounds like an old Ash; a pre-Briar Creek Ash; a killer vampire Ash."

"How do you know?" Kestrel looked concerned.

"I just do." Mary-Lynette didn't want to tell Kestrel about the intimate moment gone wrong that she had shared with Ash.

Kestrel took a few minutes to think and then finally said, "I don't know about him kissing other girls, vampire's or not, but he definitely isn't killing again. You don't need to worry about that."

"How do _you _know?" Mary-Lynette hated to think that Ash might have reverted to his more evil ways, but given what she had seen when he'd bitten her, she couldn't deny the possibility.

"He smells like rodent." Kestrel said simply, "Ash is a proud person; nothing but the best. But I can smell the rabbit on him."

"Rabbit?"

"Mostly rabbit. He's got traces of deer and sheep's scents as well."

Mary-Lynette felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She didn't have to hate Ash for being a bloodsucking evil monster. Just for being a lousy-kiss-other-girls- boyfriend.

"Kissing some vampire…that definitely sounds like the old Ash." Kestrel thought out loud, "But don't dismiss him straight away. He could have had a reason. Maybe she kissed him."

Mary-Lynette thought about the scorching kiss she'd seen Ash administer on the leggy blonde in his memory, "She definitely didn't start the kiss. He just hasn't changed." Mary-Lynette decided; "He can't change."

"Talk to him." Kestrel told her. "Give him one chance to explain himself. If he hasn't got a reasonable excuse," she shrugged, "then I'll hold him and you can put on some steel toed boots and have a field day with his shins." She smiled wickedly.

Mary-Lynette couldn't help but smile at Kestrel's suggestion.

The two girls arrived at Bunnie's surveying the small house with interest. Bunnie answered the door in her typical attire; jeans with a bright pink sweat shirt and her blond hair tied back in a pony tail. Mary-Lynette introduced Bunnie to Kestrel and then they followed her upstairs to her room. Kestrel wandered to the netted window peering out into the dark suspiciously whilst Mary-Lynette plonked herself on Bunnie's bed. Bunnie knelt and slid out a big leather bound book from under her bed. Heaving it up onto the bed, she pushed it towards Mary-Lynette. The book was large and hefty, the pages brittle and yellow. It was obviously a very old book. Mary-Lynette fingered through the pages with disgust. If this book had belonged to a witch before, then she hadn't been a particularly nice one. The book contained spells to bring about dismemberment, infertility, a life's worth of bad luck and as far as she could see nothing nice or useful. Ingredients listed made Mary-Lynette's stomach reel thinking about it; puppies ears, man's tongue, baby's blood.

"It's horrible." Bunnie said watching her finger through the pages. "There's little spells right at the back all squished onto one page. That's where I got the protection box from. And the big highlighted one that I've been trying to do doesn't have any horrible things in it like that."

Mary-Lynette flicked to the back of the book asking, "What sort of ingredients did the big spell that you were trying to do have in it?"

"Mostly just weird plants with some pig and cow organs, but I got them from the butcher alright. It said to soak them all in sheep's blood. The butcher had that as well."

Mary-Lynette looked at her horrified, "Bunnie why would you try and do a spell with those sort of things in it?"

"He said I was a frost witch. I wanted to see if it was true. I wanted to see if I could really do magic. The highlighted spell was the one that had the least nasty ingredients. Beside's it's a happy spell. It's called, like, Reassuring Candy Loops or something."

Bunnie now had Kestrel's attention as well, the vampire stood intently surveying the book in front of Mary-Lynette, "Show us which spell it was in the book." She ordered the air headed girl.

Bunnie reached in front of Mary-Lynette to flick back pages whilst the book was in her arms. When she reached the yellowed page the vampire and her half sister looked at each other and cursed.

"When did you do this spell Bunnie?" Mary-Lynette demanded.

"I've been trying for a while."

"How long is a while?" Kestrel growled at her.

"I don't know. Erm…"

"You best start thinking faster." Kestrel warned.

"I thought I'd done it right last night. But nothing happened."

"Nothing that you could see anyway." Mary-Lynette got to her feet. "We need to go and check the grave." She told Kestrel. Kestrel nodded gravely. "We're taking this book." He turned back to Bunnie, "Do _not_ do any more spells until you speak to me again."

Bunnie's head nodded.

With that Mary-Lynette and Kestrel practically ran from the house. The climbed into the car, throwing the book on the back seat, and the tyres squealed as they pulled away to speed down the road. On the back seat, the book lay open on a yellowed page, the highlighted title read; 'Resurrectum Canis Lupus: Lycanthrope'


End file.
